Chapter 26

Preparing Snares

Ruby and Tide set out with Jed at sunrise. While the Nuzleaf was locking up his house, Tide turned to Ruby and said "today's the day, you may get your memories back."

Ruby nodded and said, "yea…great"

Tide noticed the uncertainty in her voice, but before he could press further, Jed tossed them their exploration bag and said "I packed some oran berries, let's get a move on"

The trip to Revelation Mountain was uneventful. There was a single mystery dungeon on the way that Ruby and Tide cleared with no issues, Jed barely had to do any fighting of his own.

The forest was calm and clear, but the heat was only getting worse. Tide solved this by stopping and shooting a water gun straight up, dowsing himself with water.

"Con sarnet, it's hot. Can ya do that for me?" Jed requested. Tide nodded and shot a weak stream of water at Jed.

Ruby gave the two a curious look and asked "I'm not hot at all, what's the deal with you guys?"

Jed took a deep breath as the water cooled him down and said "that's because fire types thrive in heat; you'd have to be standing next to lava to get hot."

After another hour, they came to a large stone staircase heading up the mountain.

All three of the travelers shrugged and headed up the stairs, but what awaited them at the top was even more surprising than the stairs.

There was a massive stone wall, well over 15 feet tall, with a heavy gate and a symbol that covered the two stone doors. The symbol resembled a circle with beams of light emanating from it like a star.

"The spring may be behind this wall. Let's try pushing" Jed suggested.

Unsurprisingly, the three failed to move the gate a single inch. Jed shook his head and said, "dagnabbit, I'm gonna walk around the edges and see if there's another way in; stay here."

As Jed walked off, Tide tapped Ruby on the shoulder and said, "hey, what was bothering you before we left?"

"Oh, nothing," Ruby lied.

Tide gave her a concerned look, and after a few seconds of hesitation, Ruby spoke.

"I'm just worried about getting my memories back," the Fennekin admitted.

Tide nodded and said "we'll get them back somehow…."

Ruby shook her head and said "no, not like that. What if I become someone different with my restored memories? What if I'm a bad person or I don't want to be friends with you?"

Tide nodded and replied, "I understand, but I know that won't happen"

Ruby looked at him with dismay and asked, "how can you be sure?"

Tide gave her a smile and answered, "because your my friend, and no one who's so helpful, kind, and brave could ever be a bad person or turn on her friends."

Ruby gave a light blush and smiled in response. Watching from a tree, however, a familiar Greninja was scowling.

"Come on…touch the divet near the gate" Tempest whispered, her eyes darting to an indent next to the gate with moss and vines covering parts of it.

Jed came back a few minutes later and said "no luck, let's head on back"

As the trio walked away, Tempest groaned and said "Months of observation and I've gotten nothing, she may be able to use her eyes but there's just no way to tell. I believe it's time for a more direct approach."

Tempest dropped to the ground and pressed a button on a black bangle on her arm. A holographic display appeared that showed a map of the area before she pressed the call button on the flat holographic screen

She tried to call Lupin, but there was no response. Just as she was about to call him again, there was a blue glow a few feet away, and a ghostly version of Lupin appeared. He appeared to be made entirely of blue energy and was transparent.

"I'm trying out a new skill, what can I do for you?" Lupin asked.

Tempest barley batted an eye at Lupin's new skill and said "I have only two months left before we begin our plan, and Ruby has failed to demonstrate her powers"

"But you are certain it's her?" Lupin inquired.

Tempest nodded and explained, "she has silver-colored eyes, stated she remembers nothing but being human and can even burst into rose petals, it's her"

Lupin nodded and said, "I take it you have a plan to test her?"

"Yes, I will use our agents in this world, the Beheeyem, to ambush her and her partner, if anything will make her eyes activate, it will be seeing her friend in danger," Tempest suggested.

Lupin nodded and said "proceed, but keep yourself out of sight, and make certain to the Beheeyem that she and her partner are not to be killed. It would attract too much attention, especially after Alex and Tesla visited them"

Tempest nodded as Lupin's projection vanished; the time for action had finally come.

Blake was sweating bullets as Cleft brought her to Wallace's office, apparently, the Wigglytuff had called an emergency meeting as soon as Cleft had informed her about Ringo.

Wallace's large desk had a hatch open on the front, revealing what appeared to be a giant expedition orb, roughly three times the size of a normal one, and four other pokemon's holograms were present, a Dragonite, Tyranitar, a Lucario, and an Ampharos.

"So your Blake, at least we've got one of our new arrivals accounted for" the Tyranitar groaned.

The Mewostic was unable to respond before the Dragonite spoke up and said "Rorke, the poor girl has only been in this world for a few months."

Blake's eyes widened as she realized what the Dragonite meant and asked "how did you find out?"

Wallace began to open his mouth, only for the Lucario to step forward and say "Alex informed Wallace, and he informed us. Your far from the only secret that we've been trusted to hide"

"What do you mean about "new arrivals", and who are all of you exactly?" Blake questioned.

Wallace patted her on the back and explained, "Artemis, the Lucario, is the guild master of the Lucario guild on the Mist Continent, Issac the Dragonite is in charge of the Air Continent, Rorke is in charge of the Sand Continent, and Tesla is in charge of the water continent."

Blake nodded rapidly at each introduction; Jewel had told her that there was a guild on each continent that oversaw exploration teams.

"And to answer your second question there's another former human who arrived on the water continent, according to Alex, but we haven't found him or her yet," Tesla explained.

Blake gave an even more surprised look, unsure how to respond.

Artemis then decided to cut to the chase and said "we're starting to put together a plan to capture Ringo, and we likely will need your help for it…"

Author's note- oh dear

1. Writer's block on this story hit me hard, sorry for the delays

2. Decided to add a reintroduction to the other guidlmasters who were established in Outriders, since their presence in the story was limited

Please leave a review, I desperately need some feedback